1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fuel additives for internal combustion engine fuels, particularly for gasoline and diesel engine fuels, which provide a reduction in pollutant emissions and coke deposits, improved efficiency, smoother running of the engine as well as a cleaning effect on the combustion chamber of the engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fuels for the internal combustion engines and turbines damage the environment due to, among other factors, the incomplete combustion in the engines, of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxides and nitrogen oxides. Metal-ceramic catalytic converters are known to reduce this damage by means of catalytic afterburning of the engine exhausts. The combustion energy released thereby cannot be used, however, for the primary process of energy production in the engine. Also, the efficiency of the catalytic converter can decrease over time leading to increased pollutant emission levels. The addition of a fuel additive, prior to the combustion stage, would have distinct advantages over, or in addition to the traditional methods for handling exhaust emissions.
The amelioration of fuel qualities by the addition of diverse substances is a familiar technique in the prior art. Thus, e.g., according to DE-PS 582 718, heavy metal salts, namely, cooper, nickel, cobalt, zinc and chromium salts, as well as the condensation products of amines with compounds which contain one or more oxygen groups in addition to a carbonyl group, are added to the fuel in order to improve its knock resistance. In DE-PS 448 620 and DE-PS 455 525, fuels are described which have a content of iron carbonyl or nickel, cobalt and/or molybdenum carbonyl. However, these techniques have not become popular, because the use of metal carbonyls causes a metal oxide deposit in the combustion chamber of the vehicle and are toxic. DE-PS 801 865 teaches the use of fuel additives, which can be toluene, benzene, acetone trichlorethylene or isobutyl alcohol, besides the metal carbonyls, although the fundamental drawback of metal oxide deposits in the combustion chamber remains the same. DE-AS 1 221 488 describes fuel additives consisting of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, lead tetraethyl or other organometallic compounds and organic compounds having two ester groups. The following organic fuel additives are also recognized as constituting a part of the state-of-the-art: a mixture of an aromatic amine and a polyalkyl phenol, as shown in DE-PS 845 286; tretaarylhydrazine, diarylnitrosamine and triarylmethyl derivatives from DE-PS 505 928; aldehydes, quinones and ketones from DE-PS 612 073; ketones of formula Rxe2x80x94COxe2x80x94Rxe2x80x2, wherein R represents a ring radical and Rxe2x80x2 an aliphatic radical with at least 6 C-atoms, from U.S. Pat. No. 2,100,287; hydroquinone in a benzene solution from DE-PS 486 609; ether derivatives from DE-PS 703 030; alcohols from DE-PS 843 328; condensation products of alkylene oxides and alkylphenols from DE-PS 19 37 000; anthracene derivatives from U.S. Pat. No. 1,885,190 and 1.4-dialkyl-arylamino-anthraquinone from EP 09 095 975 B1.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,973,475 describes a method for oxidation of fuels with air or oxygen at elevated temperatures, possible in the presence of a catalyst. DE-PS 699 273 discloses a method of dehydrogenation of nonflammable oils from the boiling range of diesel oils in inflammable oils with oxidizing agents such as air or oxygen, ozone, peroxides, chromic acid or nitric acid at 150xc2x0-350xc2x0 C., possibly at elevated pressure and preferably in presence of a catalyst. The ozonization of fuels is also described in DE-PS 324 294 and DE-PS 553 943. According to DE-PS 324 294, ozonides such as ethylene ozonide, or a mixture of one of the conventional fuels with an ozonide, are added to the internal combustion engine. The drawback of the method is the instability of the ozonides, so that when kept for a lengthy time the availability of oxygen carriers is necessarily variable, apart from the problems of environmental pollution, which were not known at the time. According to DE-PS 553 943, a mixture of hydrocarbons is ozonized under pressure in the presence of an oxygen carrier, such as turpentine oil, and slight amounts of ignition-promoting substances.
The procedures described in the patents above have not been commercialized. The described substances are partially toxic, carcinogenic or the procedures are too expensive. They do not add any value in the petrochemical market.
In DE 1144971 there is shown the use of tetraethyl lead in addition to monocarbonacids, to achieve boosting of the octane number. In DE 1271455 diketons are patented in combination with tetraethyl lead as antiknock-substances. The substance with the general formula Rxe2x80x94(Oxe2x80x94X)nxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94R) patented in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,655,440 also has another structure which is the substance of the submitted present application. The use of glyoxal in DE 19527423A1, generated by ozonization of gasoline containing benzene has the disadvantage, that ozonization apparatus in a refinery is unusual and expensive.
The present invention has as its object to reduce the emission of pollutants and the consumption of fossil fuels and their derivatives. The pollution of environment by the incomplete combustion sequence in detonation engines with expulsion of carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, as well as nitrogen oxide is sufficiently well known. Subsequent use of catalytic converters, and the like, are a stop gap measure, at best. Thus, preference should be given to an optimization of the combustion process in the immediate energy-supplying step.
The present invention accomplishes this purpose in a fundamental, technically feasible and effective mode and manner.
In the present invention, pollutant emissions from combustion engines are reduced by the addition of glyoxal and glyoxal derivatives and adducts in aqueous solution to the fuel supply to the combustion engine. Preferably, different acetals and hemiacetals or a mixture thereof obtained by the acetalization of glyoxal are added to the fuel.
It is proposed to use glyoxal in an aqueous solution in order to reduce pollutants in the exhaust gases of gasoline and diesel engines. It is sufficient to add glyoxal in aqueous solution to gasoline in the dilution in the ratio of 1:10,000 and higher in order to obtain a reduction of unburnt hydrocarbons and carbon monoxides in vehicles with catalytic converters at idle and at increased idle of almost 100%. It is recommended to use esterified aliphats and polyethyleneglycol as emulsifiers and solubilizers. Furthermore, it is suggested to separate the glyoxal from its aqueous solution by binding the acetal and to add this component to the fuel in combustion engines as an emulsifier and homogen catalyzer in order to reduce the pollutant emission.
Additional objects, features and advantages will be apparent in the written description which follows.